1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heated dispensing guns, and more particularly pertains to a heated dispensing gun adapted for dispensing sealant from conventional cylindrical refill cartridges under cold environmental conditions. Conventional building construction methods require the use of caulk type sealant dispensed from caulking guns. During winter months, the conventional caulk sealant material frequently becomes hardened and unusable. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention provides an electrically heated dispensing gun for maintaining a sealant material within a conventional disposable refill cartridge at an optimal temperature level for expedient application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of heated dispensing guns are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a heated dispensing gun is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,142, which issued to H. Paulsen on Apr. 17, 1956. This patent discloses a portable tool for dispensing thermoplastic cement from a cement rod. U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,335, which issued to D. Cohen et al on Aug. 5, 1969, discloses a manual dispenser for applying thermoplastic adhesives including a melt chamber having a resistive heating element and a thermostatic control adapted for connected to an external power source by a power cord. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,030, which issued to E. Leibhard et al on Nov. 9, 1982, discloses a dispensing gun for melting and dispensing a measured amount of a thermoplastic adhesive. A sealing sleeve conveys the solid thermoplastic adhesive into the inlet end of a melting chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,155, which issued to H. Schuster et al on Jan. 27, 1987, discloses a device for use in a hand held heated dispensing gun to prevent continued discharge of a melted composition from the outlet thereof, when the gun is not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,064, which issued to S. Sheu on Jan. 3, 1989, discloses a gas heated glue gun including a chamber having a self-contained supply of gas for heating glue. The gas is ignited by a spark caused by manual movement of a trigger.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to heated dispensing guns, none of these devices is capable of maintaining a conventional caulk type sealant at a predetermined optimal temperature level in cold ambient conditions. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of heated dispensing guns, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such heated dispensing guns, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.